A system of dental surgery / by John Tomes and Charles S. Tomes.

  • Tomes, John, 1815-1895.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of dental surgery / by John Tomes and Charles S. Tomes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    168/776 (page 156)
    our treatment must commence by forcing the former out- wards from the median line, until they cease to embarrass the operation. This may in most cases be done by placing pieces of india-rubber between the lateral and central teeth. It is scarcely necessary to repeat, that when the lower teeth close in front or upon the edges of the upper, the plate must be made sufficiently thick at those parts which pass over the back teeth to prevent the antagonistic influence. Torsion, or twisting of the central incisors upon their axis, is far from rare. The defect in position may be common to, and equal in each tooth, or it may be greater in the one than in the other, or it may be confined to one tooth only. Either the mesial sides may be directed towards the palate, or they may be turned towards the lips ; or the one tooth may be twisted in the one, and the fellow tooth in the other direc- tion (Fig. 29). In a case recently under treatment, the right incisor made its ai^pearance at the age of thirteen, with the lingual sur- face parallel with the median line of the mouth. In this case the tooth is q quarter of a turn out of place, but instances are recorded in which the twisting has extended to as much as half a turn, so that the lingual surface presents to lips. I have one example showing this amount of torsion in a bicuspid tooth. In many cases of this kind the mal- position has been assumed diuing the period of development, and is then consequent upon arrested development of the anterior part of the jaw. Sometimes, however, it results from the retention of the temporary incisors. And it is not improbable that the root of a temporary tooth, if displaced by a blow or by a rude operation, may disturb and turn the successor upon its axis while within its cryjjt. The retarded development or eruption of a tooth may also be cited as a cause of its torsion; and it is not difficult to see how the mal-position is then produced. The adjoining teeth being already through the gums, lean toward the unoccupied space, and offer an impediment to the progressing tooth, which.